"Woodward's CEO and board of directors commitment to build in the Rockford area is a 100-year decision," Ringland-Johnson President Brent Johnson said. "It will forever change our area's landscape and gives us all renewed confidence in our collective future."

The project will do more than just benefit Ringland-Johnson. More than 1,000 local tradesmen will have worked on the project when it is completed and nearly two dozen local companies will have done at least some portion of the project.

Here are the companies from Boone, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties that have won contracts for the Woodward project.

LOVES PARK - On Aug. 23, 2012, the Rock River Valley let out a collective sigh of relief when Woodward Inc. CEO Tom Gendron stepped to a microphone and announced the Colorado-based company had chosen to build a $200 million manufacturing campus in the Rock River Valley.

A 70-acre stretch of land bordered by Forest Hills, Harlem and North Perryville roads in Loves Park was chosen over Beloit, Wis., and South Carolina. The hotly contested economic battle featured clandestine visits from governors of all three states and millions upon millions in public incentives.

Workers broke ground on the campus Oct. 12, 2013, and by then the expansion already had expanded. After assessing what the company would really need, Woodward officials increased the size of the project to 460,000 square feet - twice the size of the Woodman's grocery store on Perryville Road - and the cost to nearly $300 million.

The company employs 1,400 now and is expected to double that within 10 years, which would then make it Winnebago County's largest manufacturing employer.

"We've talked about all the reasons this is a great thing," said Glen Turpoff, head of the Northern Illinois Building Contractors Association. "It's going to create demand in the housing market. It may restart new home construction. It's going to draw more retail business. It's going to create long-term good jobs not just at Woodward but also at the companies that supply Woodward."

On the day Gendron made the announcement the unemployment rate of the Rock River Valley stood at 11.7 percent. If Woodward, the world leader in making fuel systems for aircraft, had chosen another location the reality was the region's second largest aerospace employer likely would have moved the vast majority of its local work force out of the area.

"Perhaps the most important factor here was the psychological boost it gave us," said Turpoff, who published a book, "They, Too, Cast Shadows" detailing the Rockford area construction history.

"It means our aerospace cluster is real. It's demonstrable," Turpoff said. "It gives our visitors bureau and economic development council a story to tell when they are networking.

"Iconic projects always move the needle."

So the announcement was beyond a "win" as economic development types like to call expansions or new businesses coming to town. It was perhaps the biggest win for this area since Chrysler chose Belvidere for an assembly plant.

Ironically, that long ago project is nearing an anniversary. The Chrysler plant was under construction 50 years ago and officially opened for production Sept. 13, 1965.

Here's a look at the iconic projects that have moved the needle in the Rock River Valley in the past 50 years:

Chrysler assembly plant, Belvidere, 1964-65

Page 2 of 4 - "The auto industry is the all-American industry, and the plant brought an iconic industry to town," Turpoff said. "It's had its ups and downs, and there was some real worry in 2009 over whether the plant would survive. But generations of families have grown up on very good paying jobs."

The plant now employs about 4,500 people making it the largest employer in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties.

When the plant was announced in 1963, the company estimated it would cost $50 million to build a 1.9-million-square-foot plant on 280 acres. Ragnar Benson, now owned by William Charles Construction of Loves Park, was the general contractor. William Charles, then known as Rockford Blacktop, did the grading for the plant and the rail lines, and Sjostrom & Sons won the foundations contract.

And it was just the beginning. Chrysler's various owners have pumped billions more into the plant when they've changed car lines or built expansions. In 2012, thousands of contractors completed the latest makeover, a 500,000-square-foot new body shop that cost nearly $700 million. The new space allowed the plant, now a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, to be able to produce the Dodge Dart along with the Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot.

The expansion brought the plant and stamping facility to nearly 5 million square feet.

CherryVale Mall, 1972-73

"CherryVale solidified us as a major metropolitan market," Turpoff said. "Malls were going where the people were, and the fact that we were selected showed that we were considered to be a wealthy, upwardly mobile community."

Situated just off Interstate 90, CherryVale created a regional shopping attraction that some say hastened the demise of the downtown Rockford shopping district. But it also created a new economic engine that kept purring even at the depths of the major recessions in 1981-82 and 2007-09.

Interestingly, no one knows how much it cost to build in 1972 and 1973. The Register Star quoted speculations of $14 million to $15 million, which would be nearly $78 million in today's dollars, but no final cost was ever published.

"Each of the anchor stores hired their own contractors, and the mall had its own general contractor. It was impossible to add up," Turpoff said.

Scandroli Construction of Rockford got the largest piece of the project. The company served as the mason contractor for the mall and the general contractor for the Sears anchor store.

Today, the 1.3-million-square-foot shopping center, including its anchor stores and the District at CherryVale, features more than 130 stores. It's attracted significant development around it - including Magic Waters water park, a Schnuck's grocery store and Menards hardware store. And, perhaps most importantly, between 2,500 and 3,000 people work there at various times during the year, according to mall General Manager Mark Peterson.

Page 3 of 4 - Byron Nuclear Generating Station, 1975-87

It's likely no local project will ever equal the size and scope of Exelon's nuclear power plant in Byron. The two 495-foot-tall cooling towers and other assorted buildings cost $4.5 billion over 12 years. That would be $9.2 billion in today's dollars.

"The 1970s were a boom time for construction workers," Turpoff said. "Our local companies had to guarantee workers 40-hour workweeks just to keep them from going to work at Byron."

Today, about 850 people work at the plant, which produces enough electricity to power 2 million homes. Each tower periodically needs refueling and maintenance, which draws in hundreds of contractors, pumping millions more into the economy.

"It truly is the gift that keeps on giving," Turpoff said.

The MetroCentre, 1980-81

When the MetroCentre - now BMO Harris Bank Center - opened in January 1981, it capped off a 15-year campaign to get a downtown arena for Rockford.

Sjostrom & Sons was the general contractor, Orput Associates was the engineer and Larson & Darby was the architect of the $15.3 million project, most of which came from state funds. That would cost $38.1 million today.

"The MetroCentre held downtown together," Turpoff said. "It was the anchor in a lot of years when there was no other reason to go downtown."

In its first month, the arena showcased its diversity, hosting a Cheap Trick concert, the Harlem Globetrotters and the OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center Pink Ball. Over the years, the arena has showcased such diverse talents as Frank Sinatra and Cher to Metallica and Toby Keith. For more than a decade it was home to the Rockford Lightning, a minor league professional basketball franchise. Today, it draws thousands downtown to watch the publicly-owned Rockford IceHogs, the top minor league hockey affiliate to the Chicago Blackhawks.

"The IceHogs are a tremendous economic engine for downtown and that deal doesn't happen unless we have the (BMO Harris Bank Center)," Turpoff said.

UPS shipping hub, 1994

United Parcel Service spent $69 million - or $108.5 million in today's dollars - building a 600,000-square-feet freight handling terminal at the Chicago Rockford International Airport.

The deal was contingent on the airport using state and matching funds to spend $69 million to extend runways and make other improvements.

Ever since, UPS has been a part-time worker haven for Rockford. The company employs up to 1,200 during the holiday shopping season. Most work there to make ends meet at other jobs and for the insurance. UPS is one of the rare employers that extends health insurance to part-time workers.

"When UPS came here it created an alignment with an airport that absolutely needed victories to ensure its status as a destination," Turpoff said. "Passenger traffic at the airport has gone up and down over the years. The UPS hub solidified the airport as a base of operations, and it helped bring other businesses to the airport."

Page 4 of 4 - Union Pacific truck/train cargo hub, 2002-03

The Global III truck/train cargo hub in Rochelle cost $181 million to build and - along with the Rock River, Interstate 90 and the Chicago Rockford International Airport - it completed a grand slam of economic development assets for the Rock River Valley.

It was Union Pacific's first Midwestern intermodal hub outside of the congested Chicago rail lines. The hub allows trucks and trains to quickly exchange cargo from the Midwest, West and international ports. It was the fastest-growing segment of Union Pacific's business.

The hub took six years from conception to opening and analysts estimated it would generate $2.8 billion for the area's economy within 10 years.

"It hasn't quite created the economic boom that was originally anticipated," Turpoff said. "But that doesn't mean it won't over time. It's another important piece to the economic puzzle. You have to have readiness when opportunities come along and this area has readiness because of the rail hub."

Lowe's distribution center, 2006-07

The 1.45-million-square-foot Lowe's distribution center is another project that perhaps will grow in significance.

When it opened in 2007 it was deemed significant. The project, built by William Charles Construction's Ragnar Benson for about $145 million, was only made possible when Winnebago County extended Springfield Avenue over the objection of several local landowners. When that was completed Lowe's committed to locating a distribution center there.

Today, the center is home to more than 700 employees. But it sits by itself on South Springfield Avenue.

"When Lowe's decided to build here it was at a time (when) Rockford was starting to be seen as not the best place to build anything," Turpoff said. "It was a big shot in the arm, and they built it an area (southwest Rockford) that needs more industry. It hasn't attracted anything yet, but the area is road ready."